Too large diameter, more like having to swallow the balls of a snail, imo.
(on the other hand, escargots and small sea-snails rank high on my pleasure list)
For honkey-tonk balls, albino sterlet caviar, the one on the image below is produced here in NL at $375/oz. (tin size makes next to no difference in $/lb)
Had a free white sample long time ago, great stuff, but for that cash I'd pick a 8.8oz tin of consumer grade osetra.
Thing with caviar is the same story as for fish : half is the quality of the beast, half is the freshness.
In the late '80s, the sturgeon population of the Caspian sea collapsed, due to overfishing plus poaching on a tremendous scale.
As a result, price level of Russian and Iranian caviar skyrocketed in the '90s.
Quality was abominably bad by the late 1990s, topped off by having spent far too long in the tin when served, not a sensible buy at any price.
Still plenty takers, fools and their money are easily parted.
(on the other hand, escargots and small sea-snails rank high on my pleasure list)
For honkey-tonk balls, albino sterlet caviar, the one on the image below is produced here in NL at $375/oz. (tin size makes next to no difference in $/lb)
Had a free white sample long time ago, great stuff, but for that cash I'd pick a 8.8oz tin of consumer grade osetra.
Thing with caviar is the same story as for fish : half is the quality of the beast, half is the freshness.
In the late '80s, the sturgeon population of the Caspian sea collapsed, due to overfishing plus poaching on a tremendous scale.
As a result, price level of Russian and Iranian caviar skyrocketed in the '90s.
Quality was abominably bad by the late 1990s, topped off by having spent far too long in the tin when served, not a sensible buy at any price.
Still plenty takers, fools and their money are easily parted.
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A local celebrity chef arranged a massive afternoon of frozen vodka and caviar (including lots of stuff still cold war contraband) in 1980. The Iranian golden osetra was worth the trouble but at stupid money there are other things.
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I have to admit Russian Standard Vodka sounds scary.
I have not had it in years but Stoli was a favorite.
On taking off, a British oil & gas guy handed me a tin of caviar, to put on ice for his collegue who was to arrive the next day.
His collegue called the next day to cancel his arrival, when asked what to do with the caviar, responded with enjoy it.
It was decided that the tin would go to the highest bidder, money would go in the birthday present pot.
Turned out none other than me enjoyed salty balls, took home a 500 gram tin for 30 bucks US, had a field day.
Believe I totally forgot to mention to my collegues it was Russia's finest at ~$1200 the pop.
PTL for F&B standards for food safety and sanitation.
I have to admit Russian Standard Vodka sounds scary.
Also a favourite of a chum in London....only ever drunk outdoors and with the bottle frozen with at least 1/4" ice on the outside. Chum only ever served it when the weather was blistering hot with full sunshine. Only vodka which I ever enjoyed!
Also a favourite of a chum in London....only ever drunk outdoors and with the bottle frozen with at least 1/4" ice on the outside. Chum only ever served it when the weather was blistering hot with full sunshine. Only vodka which I ever enjoyed!
I just had an audiophile moment, "If you can't taste the difference between Stoli and Absolute you are either dead or a liar".
Indeed, the difference is not subtle. Stoli is so much more involving, the emotion of the vodka really comes through. Russian Standard is like a SET though, maybe a more distorted palette with some colorations, but even more emotional. The other night I was drinking some RS on ice, quietly crying to myself, and my wife, who was in the kitchen at the time, and who doesn't even like vodka, ran into the room and said " What are you drinking? ". She knew right away that something had changed. She poured herself a glass and pretty soon she was crying too.
Oh nice, Marzen is a wonderful choice. Don't see it much around here.
Isn' it sometimes spelled "Maarzen"?
Also, when drinking vodka double-blind tests are not necessary. Several times in separate drinking sessions, I gave my companions a few glasses of Smirnoff, then I poured them a glass of Russian Standard. I didn't tell them what it was, I just told them it would be something different. To a man, they immediately described the new drink using the same terms. They all said it was "better" and "smoother" tasting, and that it made them feel different. Since they all reached the same conclusion independently, I didn't see any point doing it again double blind, or even single blind.
You have to be careful, though. If you drink vodka from a silver cup it tastes bright and metallic, almost like citrus. If you drink it from a copper cup it tastes dull but with a fuller bottom-of-the-mouth feel. Of course the brightness has nothing to do with pH, it is because the polarity of the vodka molecules is changed by the metal, I think it's quantum in nature. So the difference in taste of the different vodkas is obvious and immediate, but drinking from the wrong type of vessel changes everything. (I believe the vessel with the pestle holds the pellet with the poison, while the flagon with the dragon holds the brew that is true.)